When Manchester City revealed plans to conquer the Far East on Tuesday, they were referring to China not the East Riding of Yorkshire. Hull City still had to be beaten if Manuel Pellegrini's side were to take a step closer to Wembley in the Capital One Cup, however, and they duly delivered.

The Premier League leaders made heavy weather of their victory, it has to be said, with three late goals finally confirming their progress at the expense of the Championship promotion chasers.

It was a rather underwhelming end to what had been a momentous day, with enough empty seats at the Etihad to suggest there is still some work to be done before City can rub shoulders with the biggest clubs in world football.

Kevin De Bruyne scores his first goal of the night and Manchester City's third to make sure of the victory

Four minutes later, De Bruyne doubled his tally to ensure the scoreline had a more emphatic look to it at full-time

De Bruyne leaps in celebration after scoring his second goal to put Championship club Hull to the sword

But City's new investors know exactly what they are buying into with their £265million stake.

Top of the Premier League, through to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third year in a row and now into the final four of the Capital One Cup, Pellegrini's side are ticking over very nicely.

The manager's focus remains firmly on the pitch, not the boardroom, and last night he had the added bonus of seeing David Silva play more than 80 minutes on his return after nearly two months out with an ankle injury.

But asked about the Chinese investment, Pellegrini replied: 'It's a big country that wants to develop football and has a lot of trust in the way we are working as a global club. It's important to have these kinds of partners with that amount of money.'

Hull boss Steve Bruce maintained his policy of fielding a weakened team in this competition, there were seven changes from Friday's defeat to Derby, but he defended his decision afterwards.

'It's the first time the club has got to the quarter final so I've been true to the players, he said. 'Would it really make any difference when you come to Man City?'

For the most part, Hull were a match for their opponents despite going behind in the 12th minute.

Chuba Akpom and Ryan Taylor comically left the ball for one another midway inside their own half, and Fernandinho fed it to Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian's low shot beat Eldin Jakupovic and came back off the Hull goalkeeper's left-hand post to Wilfried Bony who fired first-time into an empty net from 15 yards with little opposition from Moses Odubajo standing close by.

But City's early momentum petered out and it was Hull who threatened more as the first half drew to the close, sensing an opportunity to capitalise on the lethargy of the home side in front of 5,000 travelling fans, without whom the Etihad would have been an even quieter place.

Indeed, Hull were right in the game until the final 10 minutes when they conceded three goals in quick succession.

Wilfried Bony fires Manchester City in front in the first half of their Capital One Cup quarter-final against Hull

Bony is congratulated by team-mate David Silva after putting City in front in the absence of striker Sergio Aguero

Kelechi Iheanacho doubled Manchester City's lead and made sure of progression into the last four

Iheanacho sticks his tongue out in celebration after scoring City's second in their win over Hull

Andrew Robertson scores what proved to be a consolation goal for the visitors as they made their exit from the Capital One Cup

Robertson celebrated his goal briefly to the 5,000 fans who made the trip from Hull to Manchester

SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP

Manchester City

Stoke City

Everton

Southampton or Liverpool

*Draw takes place on Wednesday night

Ties to be played January 4 and January 25

Silva, who looked sprightly on his return, had already gone close twice himself when he crossed from the left and substitute Kelechi Iheanacho stole in between Alex Bruce and Harry Maguire to turn the ball home. It was the young Nigerian's third goal in 11 appearances this season.

De Bruyne then seized on a poor back header by Andrew Robertson, chasing it down to touch the ball past Jakupovic.

And the Belgian soon added a second, clipping home an exquisite freekick from the edge of the penalty box after Isaac Hayden had been penalised for handball.

There was still time for Robertson to reply, racing on to Abel Hernandez's pass to guide the ball past Willy Caballero in added time but it was barely a consolation.

Kevin De Bruyne takes on Hull's Ahmed Elmohamady in the first half as he attempts to launch another City attack

Silva made a welcome return to the City side as they reached the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup

Hull's Scotland international full back Robertson competes with Fernandinho during the last-eight clash

Jesus Navas has an effort on goal but is unable to find the target as City chased a second goal at the Etihad

SUPER STAT

Manchester City have now won their last seven League Cup ties against lower-league sides, averaging four goals per game.

'If we never needed to know how cruel it is playing against the big boys, we just had reminder,' lamented Bruce, who was at least able to bring on Robert Snodgrass as a substitute in the second half for his first appearance in almost 16 months due to a serious knee injury.

'We needed to stay in the cup tie and until 81 minutes we did. By 86 minutes it was 4-0. We were punished for a couple of mistakes which was a shame because it was never a 4-1 game.

'Apart from the goal, I can't really remembering them making a chance in the first half.'

Pellegrini, meanwhile, had every reason to be happy.

'I'm very pleased because that was a difficult game against a good team that is near the top of the Championship,' he said. 'More than that because we played a third game in less than a week, and we had very good response from the squad.'

The Etihad was far from full on a night when City progressed to the Capital One Cup semi-finals in style

Robert Snodgrass made his first appearance in 16 months as the third substitute, returning from a knee injury to a huge ovation

Navas was taken off in the second half and replaced with Raheem Sterling as City chased a second goal

Sterling's boot is inscribed with the name of his daughter and he has enjoyed an encouraging start to his City career

Fans are encouraged to vote for Manchester City and England's Lucy Bronze to win Sports Personality of the Year on the big screen

Manuel Pellegrini and Steve Bruce embrace ahead of kick-off at the Etihad